Monday, July 03, 2006

Contradictions Hit The Road

It has forever been my fate or, as I now look at it, a sign of God's grace in my life, to struggle with contradictions, look for possibility in everything, and

try to accomodate mystery without resolution.

A Methodist girl attending a Catholic school.

A descendant of Puritans in love with Gothic cathedrals.

A Presbyterian elder teaching in a Jewish school.

A Protestant woman doing the 19th Annotation version of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with a Jesuit priest.

And now my Presbyterian self is off to Paris, where nearly 500 years ago Ignatius and his first followers took their initial vows toward lives of contemplation in action in the context of the Roman Catholic Church, and then Iona, where 1500 years ago monks sought lives of mission in the Celtic version of Christianity, 1000 years ago Benedictines sought lives of stability in the Roman version, and 500 years ago the Presbyterians

burned them out.

Let's see just how well I manage to contend

with all of that.

We're leaving Wednesday, but no time to blog tomorrow. I'll try to check in occasionally

Contradictions... It may seem paradoxical, but as illogical and opposing as these all may appear, it speaks of the unswerving cohesion of your heart and mind to that which surrounds you. I'm reminded here of the consistency within the inconsistent.

Why Gannet? Why Search the Sea?

Gannets are enormous and sleek creamy-white seabirds, with black wingtips, yellow heads and necks, and startlingly outlined eyes. They nest on the rocky cliffs of the European and North American coasts of the North Atlantic and, once grown, spend their days sailing across the ocean. The acrobatics by which they make their living ~ steep climbs into the air and speedy plunges straight into the sea ~ are rivaled only by those of pelicans.
What better metaphor for a sweeping search of one's life choices and opportunities than a gannet extended above the waves, a regal and yet restless surveyor of the vast ocean surface? The gannet reminds us that life is an adventure in both beauty and profound unease, and that the sea itself is limitless in its textures and possibilities.